Many experimental studies have investigated the relationship between the acquisition of reading and working memory in a unidirectional way, attempting to determine to what extent individual differences in working memory can predict reading achievement. In contrast, very little attention has been dedicated to the converse possibility that learning to read shapes the development of verbal memory processes. In this paper, we present available evidence that advocates a more prominent role for reading acquisition on verbal working memory and then discuss the potential mechanisms of such literacy effects. First, the early decoding activities might bolster the development of subvocal rehearsal, which, in turn, would enhance serial order performance in immediate memory tasks. In addition, learning to read and write in an alphabetical system allows the emergence of phonemic awareness and finely tuned phonological representations, as well as of orthographic representations. This could improve the quality, strength, and precision of lexical representations, and hence offer better support for the temporary encoding of memory items and/or for their retrieval.

Subvocalization, or silent speech, is the internal speech typically made when reading; it provides the sound of the word as it is read. This is a natural Subvocalization, or silent speech, is the internal speech typically made when reading; it provides the sound of the word as it is read. This is a natural process when reading, and it helps the mind to access meanings to comprehend and remember what is read, potentially reducing cognitive load. This inner speech is characterized by minuscule movements in the larynx and other muscles involved in the Articulation during silent speech is important, though speech is not solely dependent on articulation alone. Impairing articulation can reduce sensory input from the muscle movements of the larynx to the brain to understand information being read and it also impairs ongoing speech production during reading to direct thinking. Words that are of high similarity minimize articulation, causing interference, and may reduce subvocal rehearsal. As articulation of similar words is affecting subvocalization, there is an increase in acoustic errors for short-term memory and recall. Impairing or suppressing articulation causes a greater impact on performance. An example of articulation suppression is repeating the same word over many times such as 'the' and attempting to memorise other words into short-term memory. Even though primary cues may be given for these words in attempt to retrieve them, words will either be recalled for the incorrect cue or will not be recalled at all.

Inner speech in anarthria: neuropsychological evidence of differential effects of cerebral lesions on subvocal articulation. The role of articulation in verbal short-term memory was investigated in two anarthric patients, C.M. and F.C., both showing normal comprehension for written and spoken language, above average intelligence and visuo-spatial abilities. Based on experimental results, we propose that subvocal articulation might be impaired in anarthric patients in different ways, according to the site of lesion: in 'locked-in' patients only the articulatory rehearsal processes necessary to enhance memory performances is involved, while in cortical anarthric patients the lesion affects the articulatory recoding processes involved in transferring visually presented material into an articulatory form for better retention. Published in Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology (1992)

How is linguistic memory accessed? A psychophysiological approach. The role of "subvocalization" during language comprehension, especially reading, is examined. Four arguments against it having a role in accessing memory are erroneous because 1) its latency is much shorter than is conventionally stated; 2) rate of visual information processing is erroneously estimated by failing to distinguish between reading and scanning; 3) covert speech does not disappear in the competent language performer; and 4) the argument that subvocalization is an epiphenomenon is irrelevant. Rather, data support the generalization that covert speech is present during all cognitive functioning and that its specific topography is discriminatively related to the class of phoneme being processed. It is thus inferred that during cognition the speech musculature generates a phonetic code that may function to access linguistic memory. However, since there are also numerous other psychophysiologic events associated with covert speech, a multichannel processing system is hypothesized wherein speech, visual, and kinesthetic modalities interact with the brain.